This is it!
The NHL has released their 48 game schedule. The seasons starts on Saturday, January 19th!
Here’s the link: http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=85750&navid=DL|NHL|home
13 games will be played on Saturday to kick off the 2013 Season. The Washington Capitals will play at 7pm in Tampa against the Lightning.
The schedule was released after the CBA became offical late on Saturday night after the players voted almost unanimously for the new proposal. 99% of the players voted for with only 12 players voting against the CBA.
In the shortened season, teams will only play within their conference and play division rivals 4-5 times each. The last game of the regular season will be June 28th.
The NHL is now officially back and training camps start today. Around 200 players had been keeping themselves in game shape by heading overseas during the lockout but the majority of players just worked out and skated at local rinks. Hopefully every team can come together for some good hockey and it won’t be as sloppy as many (like me) expect.
In other news around the league:
Courtesy: Washington Post
-Looks like Eric Fehr is returning to D.C. The Caps are set to sign the winger for $600K. This is most likely due to winger Brooks Laich being injured at the moment. He could miss a week and in this season, no team can get off to a slow start. Fehr has 48 goals and 48 assists in 269 NHL games.
-Montreal Canadiens forward Erik Cole is showing his disapproval again on the new CBA by threatening to retire. He says he is uphappy with the the use of escrow and is concerned with the amount of money players will lose. The players dropped from 57% of escrow to 50% (with each percentage roughly $33M) Cole is currently on a 4 year $18M deal – I almost feel sorry for him. Maybe a year in the real world will wisen him and his family up a bit.
-The Flyers will be adding Defenseman Kurtis Foster soon. The Flyers are stocking up their defensemen again – is there a trade on the horizon or is this just insurance?
-What will the Rangers do with Defenseman Wade Redden? They buried him and his $6.5M contract in the minors last year, but under the new CBA they can’t do that anymore. It appears that Redden has agreed to sit out the season completely and has given the Rangers the go-ahead to shop him around. By sitting out the season and not going to the minors, his contract won’t count against the cap. If he were to play in the AHL, the Rangers would have to pay him $5M and risk him getting injured. I feel bad for the guy, but that’s the problem with big contracts – if you end up sucking for a year or two no one will take a chance on you. Maybe a team like Columbus will absorb his contract at some point.
-There has been speculation that the Oilers are interested in another Rangers Defenseman. Michael Del Zotto is set to re-sign but there are rumors that the Rangers might deal him. Unless they get something they can’t refuse, I can’t see that happening as he’s a good puck moving defenseman, but stranger things have happened in New York.
-Petr Sykora wants to sign with someone and the Washington Capitals might be interested. The winger played well for the Devils last year and former New Jersey Assistant Coach and now Caps Head Coach Adam Oates could be a reason to come to D.C. I really like Sykora and I was hoping the Caps would sign him last July. Not sure if there is room for him anymore with Fehr signing, but with the salary cap at $70M this year, why not sign him anyway?
A LOT more to come…
